Natural World Season 37 Episodes

Episode 1

Attenborough's Wonder of Eggs

Attenborough tends to agree with a scientist who claimed, pressed to name the most perfect thing on earth, he might choose a bird's egg. However there is a wide range of those, differing in absolute and relative size, shapes and colors. the program focuses on every stage of an egg's cycle, from insemination and lay over brooding to hatching, with anatomic and behavioral adaptations varying by species and environment, including oddities like the traitorous cuckoo.

Episode 2

Nature's Biggest Beasts

Size matters in wildlife, for species and individuals. As relative skin surface versus mass decreases exponentially with size, large animals have an advantage in the cold, hence Arctic species tend to be larger, like the polar bear, but a disadvantage in war weather, requiring adaptations in the tropics and deserts to cool down, gather or conserve water. Larger also means stronger, a better chance to fight enemies like predators or rivals for food and mating rights. Being large requires adaptations, which even puts limits on size, especially on land, to cope with gravitational problems like drinking with a giraffe's neck (allowing grazing high above herds). In the evolutionary arms race smaller species may however develop countermeasures, like poison to kill much larger preys.

Episode 3

Super Fast Falcon

44 mins

The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on earth - it can reach speeds of over 200mph. But what does it take to be a high-speed record breaker? To find out, we follow a young family of falcons as they grow up in downtown Chicago.

Episode 4

Red Ape: Saving the Orangutan

For the last decade, a team of front line medics has been fighting to save Borneo's critically endangered orangutans. Armed with cameras, International Animal Rescue has documented their struggle: pulling apes from devastated jungle, giving emergency medical care, rehabilitating, and releasing the healthiest orangutans back into the wild. This is both the story of their life-saving work and of how one of our closest wild relatives has been pushed to the brink of extinction. Combining genuine rescue footage with contributions from experts throughout, this Natural World documentary looks toward the future and asks what hope remains to save the orangutan.

Episode 5

Pangolins: The World's Most Wanted Animal

Conservationist Maria Diekmann visits Vietnam, Thailand and China to show how unusual scaly mammals called pangolins have become one of the most poached and illegally trafficked animal species in the world. Narrated by David Attenborough.

Episode 6

Super Squirrels

A look into the world, varieties and the abilities of squirrels, and how they inspire new technologies in robotics. Also, an orphaned baby squirrel is raised by people.

Episode 7

Humpback Whales: A Detective Story

On September 12, 2015 in Monterey Bay, California, a 30-ton humpback whale breached and landed on kayakers Tom Mustill and Charlotte Kinloch. Mustill returns to California to find out more about the whale.

Episode 8

Tasmania: Weird and Wonderful

59 mins

David Attenborough's nature documentary about the wondrous Tasmania that also tries to debunk the ugly stereotypes about its most famous, notorious and, of recently, endangered inhabitant, the Tasmanian devil.